Studio Cypher LLC

What Studio Cypher LLC does

Studio Cypher LLC is a privately held, independently owned game development studio headquartered at 208 N Walnut St, Suite 206, Bloomington, Indiana. The studio builds interactive games and software for a heterogeneous client base spanning indie game publishers (Spry Fox, Meowza Games, Humble Games), medical and academic institutions (Stanford Medical, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Georgetown University, Ohio State University), museums and cultural organizations (Field Museum Chicago, Indianapolis Public Library, Monroe County Historical Society), and consumer entertainment markets. Core technical capabilities center on Unity 3D development, AR game mechanics (notably the mobile title Diorama Detective), webcam-based motion tracking (Rett Syndrome therapy tool with Georgetown), HTML5 educational games (Stanford Medical continuing education suite including SafetyQuest, Hippocrates, and SonoDoc), and embedded kiosk software for institutional exhibits.

The studio monetizes primarily through custom professional-services engagements: development support and tools creation for publishers (e.g., engineering work on Mineko's Night Market), platform porting and optimization (Road Not Taken from PC to mobile, Alphabear from mobile to PC), and bespoke serious-game development for healthcare, research, and cultural-institution clients. Pricing is project-based and not publicly disclosed. Distribution occurs through mobile app stores, Itch.io, console channels via publishing partner Humble Games, and direct enterprise delivery for kiosk and research installations. No public funding rounds, acquisitions, or investor disclosures are present, and the company appears bootstrapped and founder-owned. Operating geographies include the United States and Switzerland, with no explicit global footprint claim. The studio's stated mission is making the world a better place through games, with its work positioned across hospitals, museums, conferences, and homes.

Name

Studio Cypher LLC

Legal name

Studio Cypher LLC

Website

https://studiocypher.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Studio Cypher LLC is a privately held Bloomington, Indiana game development studio that builds custom Unity 3D, AR, HTML5, and kiosk games for game publishers, medical and academic institutions, museums, and consumer entertainment markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Game Development Services

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Serious Games & Simulation Studios (Training, Defense, Enterprise) (MPAFAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

VR/AR/XR Game Studios (MPAFAAAE), Educational Games & Kids/Families Game Studios (MPAFAAAI)

Keywords

• Custom game development
• Serious games development
• AR mobile games
• Medical training games
• Museum kiosk software

Headquarters

HQ city

Bloomington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Game Development Services: Studio Cypher provides custom game development services to publishers and research institutions, including development support, tools creation, gameplay implementation, and game optimization
2. Game Porting and Optimization: Ports existing games to new platforms and optimizes games for release. Examples include porting Road Not Taken from PC to mobile and Alphabear from mobile to PC
3. Educational/Serious Games Development: Creates games for medical education, research studies, and cultural institutions including Sepsis training games, gender studies games, and museum kiosks

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Studio Cypher is a custom game development studio that designs, builds, and ports games for enterprise clients across healthcare, education, cultural institutions, and game publishing. Core work includes engineering support, tools creation, gameplay implementation, and optimization for Unity 3D titles, as well as AR, HTML5, kiosk, and webcam-tracking game applications for medical training, research, and museum exhibits. The studio also self-publishes a small portfolio of consumer games distributed through mobile app stores and itch.io.

Product overview

Studio Cypher LLC is a game development studio that creates games for various platforms including mobile (iOS/Android), PC, Nintendo Switch, and web-based environments. Their portfolio spans commercial games (such as the AR mobile game Diorama Detective and indie titles like Mineko's Night Market), educational/training games (Septris for medical professionals, Rett Syndrome therapy games), museum and kiosk installations (Field Museum, Indianapolis Public Library), and interactive research tools (OSU Gender Studies). The company offers services including game porting (Spry Fox titles), AR game development, and custom game creation for institutional partners including universities and museums.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mineko's Night Market (engineering support) Custom Unity 3D engineering support, tools creation, gameplay implementation, and optimization services for the game Mineko's Night Market, delivered to publisher Meowza Games and co-publisher Humble Games for PC and Nintendo Switch release.
• Septris (Sepsis training game) Web-based serious game for medical training that helps healthcare professionals globally identify and treat sepsis, developed in collaboration with Stanford Medical and the Swiss university hospital Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois.
• Diorama Detective Self-published AR-centric mobile game where players use their phone's camera to take pictures of virtual crime scenes to solve mysteries, distributed via mobile app stores.
• The Silver Spoon Caper Puzzle experience app created in partnership with Code & Key Escape Rooms in 2020 for at-home play during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, distributed via itch.io.
• Stanford Medical continuing education games A suite of HTML5 games built for Stanford Medical's online continuing education programs, including SafetyQuest (patient safety), Hippocrates (emergency room diagnosis), and SonoDoc (sonogram interpretation).
• Rett Syndrome Physical Therapy Game At-home physical therapy application built with Georgetown University researchers that uses a webcam and colored wristbands for hands-free therapeutic exercises for girls with Rett Syndrome.
• Spry Fox game porting services Game porting service for Spry Fox, including porting Road Not Taken from PC to mobile/tablet and porting Alphabear from mobile to PC (Hardcover Edition).
• Field Museum Kiosk Games A set of six kiosk games created for the Chicago Field Museum's Ancient Americas exhibit, each teaching a different aspect of how innovation led to societal change during the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies.
• OSU Gender Studies interactive storybook Digital game/storybook created for Ohio State University researchers to study children's attitudes toward careers and gender, with researchers able to change gender presentation and pronouns of characters in various jobs.
• Mundo Lanugo bilingual language app Bilingual (Spanish/English) language reinforcement app for preschoolers, built with Lanugo Media using their established characters to reinforce bilingual language skills.
• Museum Storyteller (Monroe County Historical Society) Kiosk software created for the Monroe County Historical Society to teach the history of basketball in southern Indiana.
• Indianapolis Public Library kiosk software Kiosk software created for the Indianapolis Public Library for the fourth anniversary celebration of its Center for Black Literature and Culture.
• Tattletale! social deduction card game A social deduction card game in which players take on the role of children at a school for mad scientists.
• 39 Clues puzzle cards Puzzle designs created for Scholastic's The 39 Clues YA book series trading cards, part of a larger mystery puzzle experience for the first season.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sepsis game will help medical professionals correctly identify and treat sepsis globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Meowza GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudio Cypher is providing engineering support for Mineko's Night Market, creating tools, implementing gameplay, and optimizing the Unity 3D game for PC and Nintendo Switch release. Meowza Games stated 'We are eternally grateful for their work and Mineko's Night Market would be nonexistent without their expertise.'
• Humble GamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering with Meowza Games to publish Mineko's Night Market on PC and Nintendo Switch. Humble Games is co-publishing the title with development support from Studio Cypher.
• Spry FoxcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudio Cypher helped Spry Fox port their games to different platforms, including Road Not Taken from PC to mobile/tablet, and Alphabear from mobile to PC (Hardcover Edition).
• Code & Key Escape RoomsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn partnership with Code & Key Escape Rooms, Studio Cypher created The Silver Spoon Caper, a puzzle experience app for people to play at home during COVID-19 lockdown.
• Stanford MedicalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreated multiple HTML5 games for Stanford Medical's online continuing education programs, including SafetyQuest (patient safety), Hippocrates (emergency room diagnosis), and SonoDoc (sonogram interpretation).
• Centre Hospitalier Universitaire VaudoiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking with Stanford Medical and this Swiss university hospital to create an international version of their website-based Sepsis training game to help medical professionals globally identify and treat sepsis.
• Georgetown UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAiding Georgetown researchers to create at-home exercises for Rett Syndrome patients using a system utilizing webcam and colored wristbands for hands-free, therapeutic exercises.
• Ohio State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorked with OSU researchers on an interactive piece used to study children's attitudes towards careers and gender. Researchers can change gender presentation/pronouns of characters to study gender associations.
• Indianapolis Public LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreated kiosk software for the Indianapolis Public Library for the fourth anniversary of their Center for Black Literature and Culture.
• Field MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreated a set of six games for the Chicago Field Museum's Ancient Americas exhibit, each teaching different aspects of societal change from hunter-gatherer to agricultural society.
• Monroe County Historical SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreated kiosk software for Monroe County Historical Society to teach the history of basketball in southern Indiana.
• Lanugo MediaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelped Lanugo Media (Spanish/English family entertainment company) create their first app to reinforce bilingual language skills in preschoolers using established characters.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Schell Games: Schell Games is a Pittsburgh-based independent studio that develops both commercial games and serious/educational games for enterprise clients, including VR training experiences. Most directly comparable to Studio Cypher because it runs the same hybrid commercial-plus-serious-games services model with custom development at its core.
• Muzzy Lane Software: Muzzy Lane Software develops serious games and simulation-based learning products for education and enterprise clients. Directly comparable to Studio Cypher's educational-kiosk and museum-installation work (Field Museum, library kiosks) and its medical CE offerings.
• Magnopus: Magnopus is a Los Angeles studio that builds immersive AR/VR/XR experiences for entertainment, cultural institutions, and enterprise clients. Closely comparable to Studio Cypher's AR game work (Diorama Detective) and museum/cultural-installation projects (Field Museum, library kiosks).
• Alelo: Alelo develops AI-driven serious games and simulations for corporate training, healthcare, and military clients. Closely comparable to Studio Cypher's serious-games work for Stanford Medical and the Rett Syndrome therapy project, both targeting competency-building through interactive gameplay.
• Breakaway Games: Breakaway Games is a Hunt Valley, MD studio specializing in serious games for defense, healthcare, and corporate training markets. Directly comparable to Studio Cypher's medical-training and research-engagement business in terms of client profile and project scope.
• Filament Games: Filament Games is a Madison, WI studio focused on educational and learning games, building products for museums, schools, and publishers. Directly comparable to Studio Cypher's museum and academic research segments (Field Museum, OSU Gender Studies, Monroe County Historical Society).
• Caspian Learning: Caspian Learning is a UK-based serious games studio producing interactive learning simulations for corporate, healthcare, and educational clients. Comparable to Studio Cypher's serious-games development services, particularly for training and continuing-education use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Niantic: Niantic is the AR-gaming leader behind Pokémon GO and Ingress, with deep expertise in camera-based AR mechanics and location-based play. Broadly comparable to Studio Cypher's AR game work (Diorama Detective's phone-camera gameplay) but operates at vastly larger scale as a publisher, not a services studio.
• Unity Technologies: Unity Technologies is the dominant 3D game engine provider and the platform on which Studio Cypher builds all its core work (Mineko's Night Market, Diorama Detective, etc.). Indirectly comparable as the foundational technology layer that Studio Cypher's services depend on and that enables its delivery model.

Emerging players

• Strange Loop Games: Strange Loop Games is an independent studio that combines commercial game development (Eco) with educational and research collaborations. Comparable to Studio Cypher as a small studio balancing consumer products with custom institutional work, though Stronger on the consumer side.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/studio-cypher-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Studio Cypher LLC